Speaker rallies GOP as Bettencourt scandal unfolds

Tuesday

May 29, 2012 at 2:00 AMMay 29, 2012 at 9:41 AM

CONCORD — House Speaker William O'Brien is urging fellow Republicans not to "turn on each other" following the controversial resignation of Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt, who has admitted to lying to the University of New Hampshire School of Law.

Joey Cresta

CONCORD — House Speaker William O'Brien is urging fellow Republicans not to "turn on each other" following the controversial resignation of Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt, who has admitted to lying to the University of New Hampshire School of Law.

In a late-night letter sent to his caucus at 10:57 p.m. Sunday, O'Brien, R-Mont Vernon, told party members that the scandal surrounding Bettencourt's immediate resignation from the House is not a reflection of House leadership.

"D.J.'s error is personal to him and was a deeply wrong choice he made on his own. His mistake characterizes neither the caucus who elected him as majority leader nor the remaining members of leadership or of our caucus who have relied on him to join our efforts in bringing forward the Republican solutions our state so sorely needed," O'Brien wrote.

O'Brien's only public comments on the controversy came in a statement he released noting he was "disappointed" to hear of Bettencourt's resignation.

"He played an important part in achieving a historic budget that closed a nearly $1 billion deficit, in providing tax and regulatory relief to help grow New Hampshire's economy and in moving forward an agenda based on Republican principles of lower taxes and limited government," he said in the statement.

The speaker's statement is in deep contrast to his letter to House Republicans, in which he denounced Bettencourt's actions as being "clearly at odds" with party ideals. He said Bettencourt violated the direction he gave to House leadership that "honesty, integrity and ethical behavior will be the foundation for all our efforts."

"There will be those (who) say that D.J.'s failure and his resignation characterize our current majority. Others will say that it characterizes the leadership of our caucus. Neither is true," O'Brien wrote.

Bettencourt originally resigned Friday, citing his upcoming marriage and a new job opportunity as his reasons for stepping down. That led Rep. Brandon Giuda to make public information that Bettencourt had fraudulently filed an internship report with UNH claiming he worked for 11 weeks in Giuda's law office, when in reality he worked there only for one day.

Giuda, R-Chichester, issued an ultimatum, saying if Bettencourt did not admit to his wrongs, he would release full reports on the scandal. Bettencourt issued another resignation statement Sunday in which he admitted to misrepresenting himself to the university.

O'Brien addressed how the issue came to light in his letter to caucus members. He said Giuda first contacted him about the false records and during a subsequent meeting with both Giuda and Bettencourt, "it was clear to me that there was substance to that claim."

All parties agreed that Bettencourt would immediately announce his resignation, effective at the end of the current session, and would cite "personal problems" as the reason.

The Legislature under O'Brien has been marked by bickering in the Republican Party ranks and allegations that House leaders bully any party members who disagree with them on important issues. Seacoast Republicans, including Rep. Timothy Copeland of Stratham and Exeter Rep. Lee Quandt, have pointed to a fracturing of the party caused by this caustic relationship.

However, O'Brien urged his party to ignore "those who will take delight" in using the Bettencourt resignation for their own political gains, and to instead focus on the remainder of the current session.

With two session days left, the House will be voting on several key pieces of legislation, including constitutional amendments and pension reform.

"Much of this legislation will complete our efforts to keep our promises of 18 months ago to the people of New Hampshire. The people deserve us not being distracted from completing our agenda," O'Brien said.

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